Journal of Nuclear Materials ( IF 2.8 ) Pub Date : 2020-11-09 , DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152657 Jacob Hirschhorn , Michael Tonks , Christopher Matthews
A CALPHAD-informed (Computer Coupling of Phase Diagrams and Thermochemistry) constituent redistribution model was developed for Zr-based metallic fuels and incorporated into the BISON fuel performance code. Three uncertain model parameters associated with and phase kinetics were calibrated using integral test data from U-Zr fuel elements irradiated in Experimental Breeder Reactor II. The calibrated constituent redistribution model was shown to predict the behavior of U-Zr fuels with excellent accuracy. Model predictions for U-Pu-Zr fuels were physically reasonable but less accurate. Reduction of uncertainties in the ternary phase transition temperatures and collection of kinetic data for the phase are expected to improve the model’s ternary predictions. Finally, the new model was coupled to existing thermomechanics models in BISON to simulate irradiation of an entire U-Zr fuel element, demonstrating its ability to accurately predict the behavior of U-Zr fuels with realistic geometries and mesh resolutions at the engineering scale.
中文翻译:
使用BISON的CALPHAD信息化方法对基于Zr的金属燃料中的成分再分配进行建模
针对基于Zr的金属燃料开发了CALPHAD告知(相图和热化学的计算机耦合)成分重新分配模型,并将其纳入BISON燃料性能代码中。与以下三个相关的不确定模型参数 和 使用来自在实验育种反应堆II中辐照的U-Zr燃料元素的积分测试数据,对相动力学进行了校准。校准后的成分再分配模型显示出以极高的准确性预测U-Zr燃料的性能。U-Pu-Zr燃料的模型预测在物理上是合理的,但准确性较低。减少三元相变温度的不确定性并收集动力学数据期望阶段可以改善模型的三元预测。最后,将新模型与BISON中现有的热力学模型耦合,以模拟整个U-Zr燃料元件的辐照,证明其具有在工程规模下以实际几何形状和网格分辨率准确预测U-Zr燃料行为的能力。